Adobe Flash CS5 Revealed Additional ACA Material

Transcription

1 Jim Shuman Adobe Flash CS5 Revealed Additional ACA Material This document provides additional information for Adobe Flash CS5 ACA certification.

2 How to use this document: Use this information in conjunction with Adobe Flash CS5 Revealed to prepare for the Adobe Certified Associate (ACA) exam. 2.1 Identify general and Flash-specific best practices for designing rich media content for a website. Authoring FLV files for Adobe AIR. AIR (Adobe Integrated Runtime) is a cross-operating system runtime that allows developers to combine various technologies such as HTML, Flash and Flex to create rich Internet applications (RIAs) that run on the desktop regardless of the operating system. Therefore, a Flash application that includes FLV files can be authored once and published as a SWF file for display in a Web browser or published as an AIR application and displayed on a computer without using a browser. Including metadata in SWFs Metadata can be included in a SWF Flash Lite application used on a mobile phone. The metadata might include such things as author, description, copyright and company information. Search engines that index metadata from a SWF file would allow you to keep track of how and where your application is being used on the Internet. The File Info dialog box (from the File menu) is used to view and edit metadata for a Mobile SWF file. 2.2 Demonstrate knowledge of design elements and principles Horizontal symmetry, vertical symmetry, diagonal symmetry, radial symmetry, and asymmetric layout Balance in screen design refers to the distribution of optical weight in the layout. Optical weight is the ability of an object to attract the viewer s eye, as determined by the object s size, shape, color, and so on. Balance can be symmetrical or asymmetrical. Symmetrical balance occurs when the weight is evenly distributed around a central axis or point. Horizontal symmetry is achieved when the balance is evenly distributed on the left and right halves of the layout. Vertical symmetry is 2

3 achieved when the balance is evenly distributed on the top and bottom halves of the layout. Diagonal symmetry is achieved when the balance is evenly distributed on either side of a diagonal line dividing the layout into equal parts. Radial symmetry is achieved when there is balance around the central point of the layout. Asymmetrical layout occurs when the weight of a layout is not evenly distributed around a central axis or point. 3.7 Understand Flash file types. XMP and XFL file types XMP (Extensible Metadata Platform) data is metadata such as a Flash document s title, author, description, and copyright. This data can be viewed and edited in Flash and Adobe Bridge. The data is valuable in a workflow environment involving various designers and developers. The File Info dialog box (from the File menu) is used to view and edit metadata for a FLA file. In addition, Flash allows you to add metadata to SWF files. Embedding metadata improves the ability of web-based search engines to return meaningful search results for SWF files. The Publish Setting dialog box is used to display the File Info box allowing you to enter metadata for a SWF file. XFL is the native, or internal, Flash file format. The default setting when saving a Flash document creates a FLA file which is a compressed XFL file. Flash documents can also be saved as uncompressed XFL files. This creates a folder with all the individual parts of the Flash file including XML files that describe the Flash file as a whole, describe each Library symbol and that contain publish and mobile settings. In addition, the uncompressed XFL file contains external assets such as bitmap files. Uncompressed XFL files allow live updating in which a Library asset can be edited while the document is open in Flash. For example, a graphic (that is located in the XFL folder) could be opened in Photoshop edited and saved. The edited graphic is automatically updated in the open Flash document while no changes are made to the source file. These features allow for much easier collaboration on large projects that involve several designers and developers. 3

4 4.5 Adjust text properties. The Alias text property. Anti-aliasing allows you to smooth the edges of text displayed on-onscreen. This reduces the jagged effect of some text and makes the text more readable. Flash supports anti-aliasing for static, dynamic and input text. The Properties panel provides the following five anti-alias options for selected text. Use device fonts Specifies that the SWF file use the fonts installed on the user s computer. This ensures that the fonts are legible. When using device fonts, choose only commonly installed font families such as Times New Roman and Arial. Bitmap text [no anti-alias] - Turns off anti-aliasing and no text smoothing is provided. The text is displayed using sharp edges, but scales poorly. Anti-alias for animation - Creates a smoother animation by disregarding alignment and kerning information. For readability, use 10-point or larger type. Anti-alias for readability - Uses the Flash text rendering engine to improve the readability of fonts, especially at smaller sizes. This option creates a larger SWF file because font outlines are embedded. Custom anti-alias Provides two options that allows modification of the font s properties. Sharpness is used to specify the smoothness of the transition between the text edges and the background. Thickness is used to specify how thick the font anti-aliasing transition appears Create animations (changes in shape, position, size, color, and transparency) Creating frame labels See Flash CS5 textbook page Animating one or a series of symbols, shapes, or objects using inverse kinematics with the Bones tool See Flash CS5 textbook pages 5-26 to 5-33, and in addition: The Spring feature of the Bone tool allows you to add springiness to IK bone structures. This gives a more realistic physical movement to an animation. There 4

5 are two properties of the Spring feature, Strength and Damping. The Strength value determines the stiffness of the spring effect. The higher the value the stiffer the spring effect. The Damping value determines the rate of decay of the spring effect. The higher the value the quicker the springiness diminishes. The process for using the Spring feature is to select a bone(s) and use the Properties panel to set the Strength and/or Damping values. Identifying and Resolving Tweening Errors A dashed line in the Timeline indicates that a classic or shape tween is broken or incomplete. This may be caused when the final keyframe of the tween is missing. A classic tween is displayed on the timeline as a solid arrow with a blue background and black dots for keyframes. A motion tween is displayed on the timeline as a light blue background with a black dot in the first frame of the tween span and a black diamond for the last frame of the span and any property keyframes. A motion tween has a motion path displayed on the stage. A shape tween is displayed on the timeline as a solid arrow with a green background and black dots for keyframes. Shape tweens use shapes not symbols. Each object (shape or symbol) should be tweened on its own layer Make a document accessible Setting accessibility options for an individual object or movie clip symbol. The Accessibility dialog box can be used to set accessibility options for an individual object or movie clip. The process is to select the object or movie clip, choose Accessibility from the Other Panels option on the Window menu and check Make object accessible. Hiding objects from screen readers A background sound or an object that is merely decorative may be distracting to the user when processed with a screen reader. Therefore, you may want to hide the object from screen readers. Objects can be hidden from screen readers by selecting the object, displaying the Accessibility dialog box, naming the object and then deselecting the Make object accessible option. 5

6 5.1 Conduct basic technical tests. Checking spelling in a Flash document The Check Spelling option on the Text menu can be used to check spelling in a Flash document. Selecting the Check Spelling option will display a dialog box that highlights words not found in the specified dictionary(ies). You can edit the highlighted text, leave it as is and/or add it to a personal dictionary. The Spelling Setup option on the Text menu allows you to specify one or more dictionaries and specify the type of text to check, such as text fields or frame labels. 6